Seven students get one month in prison for protesting Arakan State policy

By Aung Htein 26 Mar 2020

Aung Htein | DMG

March 26, Yangon

Seven students who staged a protest last month against government policy and military actions in Arakan State were sentenced to one month’s imprisonment with hard labour on March 25 by a court in Yangon.

They were charged by Kamaryut Township police and arrested on March 5 under Section 19 of the Peaceful Assembly Law due to their protest on February 23. The demonstrators had demanded a restoration of internet access in all of Arakan and Chin states, as well as calling for accountability for a shelling that harmed several students when it hit a school in Buthidaung Township earlier in the month. They also advocated for the right of local and international media to have freedom of access to information. 

“For university students who are asking for people’s rights, it [the verdict] sends a message that you will face this kind of punishment if you tell the truth,” said Ko Thaw Zin Tun, a member of the Arakan Students Union leadership.

Those sentenced on Wednesday are Ko Naung Htet Aung, Ko Aung Pyay Sone Phyo, Ma Hnin, Ma Aye Myat Mon Kyaw, Ko Thuta Soe, Ko Sitt Naing and Ko Thet Tin Aung. Apart from them, police charged two other students, Ko Myat Hein Tun and Ko Kyaw Linn, but their whereabouts are unknown.

On June 21, the government cut off mobile internet access in Buthidaung, Maungdaw, Rathedaung, Ponnagyun, Kyauktaw, Myebon, Mrauk-U and Minbya townships in Arakan State, where the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army have been fighting for months, and in Chin State’s Paletwa Township. 

 The ban was lifted in some of the townships on September 1, only to be reimposed on February 3.